


Saturnalia

by Quill_lumos



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-24
Updated: 2008-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-30 11:06:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10161812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quill_lumos/pseuds/Quill_lumos
Summary: It's Saturnalia and Severus wants to look after Harry and Apisus for once, he's never had to manage on his own before, but luckily he gets help from a new friend.  A one-shot set in the Tempus Fugit Praeterhac Universe





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HP Fandom](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HP_Fandom_\(archive\)), which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HP Fandom collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hpfandom/profile).

You know when you have one of those relationships, where you understand each other so well and have similar tastes and likes? Cyndie and I are like that. We’d seen each other around so often online and I always read her recs and she always read mine. We liked the same sort of stories. Then, three years ago, I started writing and Cyndie started reading the stuff that I had written and her feedback was always useful and pertinent and eventually I asked her to beta for me.

Cyndie betaed Praeterhac and believe me it wasn’t an easy task. We worked wonderfully together and she helped me so much, she is someone to bounce ideas off and discuss things with. You know when you are so close to someone that they finish your sentences? Well, Cyndie does that for me and then makes my sentences so much better. 

She has helped me re-write Concubine, and we are just about there too with Second Chance and she’s re-betaed Harry Angel, just have to get round to posting that. 

I have had some wonderful betas over the last three years, it’s not an easy job, but it is a vital one. There are some writers who can act as their own betas and do a good job, I’m not one of them, as can be seen by this story, which lacks her touch. However, it would have been so much worse were it not for the brilliant and stylish WhiteCotton. So thank you honey for betaing this.

So this story is for Cyndie. Thank you my dear girl for all you have done for me this year. Happy Birthday, Happy Christmas and lots of love.

 

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter, related nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. It all belongs to JK Rowling. Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Inc., Warner Brothers and any other entity involved. 

This story is the first of the promised one-shots set in the Tempus universe. Happy Christmas to you all ~ love Lucie xx

 

**Saturnalia**

_“So boys, tomorrow is Saturnalia,”_ Severus announced, sweeping into the room. Harry smiled up at him, green eyes glittering attractively in the half light from the shuttered windows, but Apisus, who was snuggled beside him on the floor, didn’t stir. 

_“How do you do that?”_ Harry enquired, stretching his arms out in a cat-like way, easing the kinks from his shoulders. 

_“Do what?”_ Severus asked wondering what Harry was talking about.

_“How do you manage to look so elegant, just wearing a tunic? I mean, when we were at Hogwarts it was different ‘cause there you had your robes and I thought you probably used magic to make them flare out the way they did. But you aren’t using magic now and yet you look so elegant, despite wearing only a cloak and a tunic.”_

Severus smiled.

The boys looked so comfortable wrapped around each other. Harry had been cuddled against Apisus on the rug in front of the stove and Flea was dozing beside them. Apisus was deeply asleep, his arms and legs tucked tight against his body in a foetal position. In sleep Apisus lost the relaxed air he seemed to have adopted around Severus and Harry, and his unconscious, shielding instincts took over. He was curled up protectively and he had one arm outstretched, as if to defend himself should he need to. His clenched fist nestled in the sheepskin rug on which the boys were snuggled and a small frown marred his otherwise smooth countenance.

It was sixth hour and the shop was closed so Harry was obviously making the most of his rest–time. He couldn’t rest for long because the day before festivals was always so very busy and there was a lot to do. But at least things had been easier for him since Apisus’ arrival. 

Harry moved carefully, seemingly not wanting to disturb the other boy’s slumber. He sat up and smiled at his Dominus, and Severus smiled back, hardly even noticing he was doing so. The feelings of tenderness that Harry aroused in him were almost instinctive, now. Feelings the like of which he’d never known before.

“ _Hello, Domine._ ” Harry said softly. Severus hadn’t seen much of the boy that day; he had still been asleep when Harry had got up early and gone to light the oven. He and Apisus took turns these days to get up to light the oven, so it was only every other day that Severus awoke with his lover in his arms. But now that Severus had realised how much he cared about the boy, he couldn’t seem to get enough of him. He had to touch Harry as often as he could; found himself seeking the boy out just so he could hold him. The unique scent that was Harry, the feel of his long, slim limbs against Severus’ skin, had become almost an addiction. 

Harry wrapped his arms around Severus’ waist and pressed his cheek into the broad chest. He could feel Harry’s bare leg against his own and he couldn’t help thinking that tunics were a wonderful garment. He’d hated them at first, having been so used to being covered up in swathes of black cloth, but he was rather fond of them now. So much so that he tended to buy Harry’s tunics a little shorter than was the fashion, just for the pleasure of seeing so much flesh on show and all of it belonging to him.

Harry tipped his head back and pouted up at him, in a blatant demand for a kiss. Severus smirked and acquiesced.

“ _Are we really going to close at lunchtime tomorrow, for three whole days?”_ Harry asked, he sounded disbelieving.

“ _Yes, Harry, we are._ ” 

Harry frowned, _“But I thought we needed the money?”_

“ _Saturnalia is a holiday and you need a break, we all do._ ” Harry’s frown deepened.

“ _Harry, you have earned this._” Since Severus had come to know the boy better, he had begun to realise that his dark-haired lover had absolutely no sense of self-worth whatsoever. So Severus sought to reassure him at every stage, to try and persuade him that he had the right to rest, and to object to being sacrificed. Severus had always had a strong sense of his own worth, despite the fact that the world had tried to exclude him, and he had fought his enemies every step of the way. He’d always known he was as good as James Potter and Sirius Black, however much they had tried to persuade the school and Severus himself that this was not the case. He’d suffered a great deal over the years, but that had been because he felt he needed to atone, not because he had ever believed that he was less than anyone else.

Harry however was different. He pulled the boy close and dropped a kiss on his messy hair. Harry didn’t seem to think that he was entitled to anything at all. It explained so much to Severus. It explained why Harry had put up with Severus’ treatment of the boy when they had first arrived. He’d simply accepted it as the way things were – as all he deserved. Severus still felt guilty about the way that he’d treated Harry and it wasn’t just that Harry hadn’t deserved such treatment. What bothered Severus far more was that Harry still didn’t seem to understand that Severus’ treatment had been wrong.

On a number of occasions, a goodly number of occasions, he had tried to talk to Harry about his acceptance of Severus’ erstwhile vicious behaviour. But Harry would shrug and just say that it hadn’t been that bad. This of course alerted Severus to the fact that, at some point in his life, things had been truly dreadful for Harry. Now that Severus had come to see Harry as he really was, his heart ached for his lover. Months ago they had discussed it and Harry had dismissed his relatives’ behaviour “ _Compared to what happens to children here, they were kindness and generosity itself._ ” That was what Harry had said and as far as he was concerned that seemed to be the end of the matter.

Then they had rescued Apisus and he had been so fragile, so broken that by comparison Harry’s difficult childhood seemed to pale into insignificance. Harry hadn’t been raped or physically abused, beaten, not like Apisus. Nothing like Apisus.

But Harry’s childhood had been an emotional wasteland. From conversations that Severus had overheard between Harry and Apisus he suspected, even though Harry had never been systematically abused, he had been mistreated. He been belittled and ignored and told time after time that he was worthless. He’d been told this by the adults who were supposed to care for him and somewhere along the way Harry had come to believe it as truth. 

Apisus was undoubtedly damaged. But so was Harry.

Severus had not even noticed the passing of Harry’s birthday and had still not forgiven himself for his oversight. He had bought him plenty since, and each little gift would be treasured by the boy; would light up his face like a little piece of the sun, let loose and shining inside him. Saturnalia, was Severus’ chance to give Harry the treats and little luxuries he knew the boy deserved.

“ _Don’t you understand Harry, Saturnalia is the Roman Christmas? The two festivals have much in common, I think we should celebrate the festival, just like we would at home -- at Hogwarts._ ” Although, if Severus were truthful, he didn’t really think of Hogwarts as home any longer and he had never truly celebrated Christmas.

“ _Can we find about a billion pine trees then? And some tacky tinsel and some lights?_ ” Harry asked cheekily, “ _I must admit I haven’t noticed a lot of pines ‘round here, olive trees perhaps, but they’re a funny shape. Where would we put the fairy?”_

Severus chuckled. _“Brat!”_ he said tenderly, running his fingers through Harry’s hair and kissing him again.

_“Your brat.”_ Harry commented, once he’d been thoroughly kissed, sounding smug and satisfied.

_“ My brat.”_ Severus confirmed. He took Harry’s hand and led him through to their bedroom. It was theirs now, truly theirs. Harry had more things and they nestled amongst Severus’ scattered here and there. Harry’s album took pride of place on the dresser and his cloak hung behind the door. Both were protected with a spell, but they were visible and communicated clearly to both of them that this was Harry’s place too.

Harry yielded to Severus’ kisses, allowed himself to be lowered to the bed and responded as eagerly as ever when Severus made love.

Afterwards they lay cuddled together, wrapped around each other, skin against skin.

“ _I love you, Domine._ ” Harry whispered, placing a kiss on Severus’ bicep.

“ _I love you too, my beautiful boy._ ” Severus told him.

“ _What is Saturnalia all about then? I didn’t like to ask, I thought that I should know already, so it would look suspicious if I said anything._ ”

“ _You might have asked Apisus. He could have told you, I’m sure._ ” Harry shook his head.

_“I get the feeling that Aps hasn’t been able to celebrate many festivals, so I don’t like to ask him about things that might be painful for him. I do know what it’s like to feel excluded and alone, after all I spent ten years of my life locked in the cupboard at Christmas._ ”

Severus twisted to look at him. Harry’s Latin was very good now and he hardly ever had to correct him.

“ _In a very small room the size of cupboard? Like the store-room that you slept in when we came here?_ ”

“ _No, Domine. A cupboard, the one under the stairs at Number Four, was my bedroom until I got my Hogwarts letter and then the Dursleys panicked and moved me upstairs to Dudley’s second bedroom._ ”

“The cupboard under the stairs?” Severus had to check Harry’s statement in English, to assure himself there was no mistake.

But Harry answered in Latin, something that Severus would have never thought would happen just a few months earlier. Harry was comfortable in Latin and Severus was aware that he didn’t speak English any longer -- if he could help it, that is.

“ _Yes, Domine. The cupboard under the stairs was where I slept until I was eleven. The Dursleys always locked me in there at Christmas, saying I spoiled their fun. I wasn’t allowed to even touch the Christmas tree, but I used to sit and look at it for hours through the crack in my door and wonder if I’d have a family one day._

_“I thought you knew about my cupboard anyway, you saw me in it often enough during Occlumency._ ”

Severus felt icy cold. If he were to close his eyes he knew he would see a dark, cramped place. He had seen it in Harry’s memories, but had not realised its significance. That had been Harry’s bedroom? Severus was overwhelmed; he felt sadness, fury and tremendous guilt. He knew that Harry’s life had been less than perfect, he had contributed often enough to its imperfections, but he had never suspected anything like this. He pictured Harry as a small child and he wanted to weep, a little boy with green eyes and tousled locks and Lily’s smile. Hidden from the world and denied, not just love, but the most basic of human rights.

He wanted to find the Dursleys and kill them, slowly. He wanted to force Albus to see how deep his folly had been, how much he had hurt Harry.

“ _Are you all right, Domine?_ ” Harry’s voice seemed tinged with concern.

Severus could barely speak, his throat was stuffed with sorrow and his mouth tasted of ashes. Harry had insisted that his childhood hadn’t been that bad, Severus should have known that Harry’s assessment would be somewhat skewed.

“ _Oh, Harry. You shouldn’t have had to grow up like that._ ”

Harry shrugged, “ _Doesn’t matter any more, I never have to go back._

_“Anyway now I have you and Apisus and you both want me to be part of your celebration. Come to think of it, maybe we should be doing Saturnalia properly for Aps as much as for me and you. We could make new memories as a family, what do you think? I’ll need to find out more about what to do._ ”

Harry wasn’t looking at Severus anymore, he had glanced over at the door to the room where Apisus still snoozed, comforted by a somnambulant Flea. Green eyes were shining, and he was chewing his lower lip, obviously deep in thought. Harry was making plans. 

But Severus still couldn’t seem to speak.

Finally turning his attention back to his dominus, Harry gently tickled his ribs, a trick he seemed to apply when he wanted to attract Severus’ attention.

“ _Domine! I thought you were going to tell me about Saturnalia?_ ”

It did matter, what Severus had just learned. It mattered more than Harry realised. No wonder Harry thought so little of himself. At least now Severus had more of an understanding about why Harry had such low self-esteem. He wondered whether Albus had known the truth and then decided it was better not to know, because then he would have to find a way to go back –or maybe forward- in time and kill the old man again, and enjoy it on this occasion.

“ _Domine?_ ”Harry said again, sounding impatient. However horrific Severus thought the stories of Harry’s childhood, Harry himself seemed determined to ignore them for now.

He sighed, closed his eyes to help gather himself. Then he determinedly shook off his dark thoughts. Harry obviously didn’t want to talk about it, not now, maybe not ever, and Severus would do as his lover wished.

“ _Saturnalia is a mid-winter festival,_ ” Severus began, “ _It is actually the precursor of Christmas, though the dates of Saturnalia are not precisely coincident with Christmas. A more refined argument is that Christmas was set on the feast of Sol Invictus, which will one day be held on December 25th, and which will eventually supplant Saturnalia. _

_However, with many of the traditions of Saturnalia incorporated into Sol Invictus, it is possible that some of those traditions - such as the exchanging of gifts - were also carried forward as a part of the Christian holiday._

_“Over the next three days, we will exchange gifts and I shall spoil you, waiting on you instead if the other way round. During this festival slaves are nominally given more freedom Saturnalia is designated a holy day, or holiday, on which religious rites are performed._

_“The Temple of Saturn, the oldest temple recorded by the pontiffs, will be dedicated on the Saturnalia, and the woollen bonds which fetter the feet of the ivory cult statue within are loosened to symbolize the liberation of the god._

_“It is also a festival day. After sacrifice at the temple, there will be a public banquet, which we will attend, I think that you are comfortable enough here now for you to be able to pass. Then the shop will not open at all and we will have two days of rest, it will be just us, though we may well get visitors._ ” Severus finished a little sourly. He wanted Harry all to himself, but that wasn’t happening he supposed.

“ _You’ve got presents for me?_ ” Harry asked, eagerly. 

“ _I have,_ Severus told him as he kissed him tenderly once again.

“ _And Apisus?_ ”

“ _Of course._ ”

Harry hugged him. “ _I think it’s going to be great._ ”

His boy looked so happy, so content that Severus had to kiss him again and then Harry was kissing him back and before he knew it Harry had wrapped himself around Severus’ again and Severus was stroking Harry’s leg and Severus wondered, if they were quick, perhaps there would be time to make love after all.

 

*************

 

Severus swore again, the bloody oven just wouldn’t light and he was not going to use his wand: it was a matter of principle. If Harry could do it, if Apisus could, then he wasn’t going to fail. He was still haunted by the story that the boy had told him the day before. He couldn’t make things right, he doubted he could even make it up to Harry for the loss of his childhood, but he was going to try to make the next few days good for his boy. In fact, for both the boys for whom he was now responsible.

“ _Io Saturnalia, Domine. Are you having problems?_ a female voice asked. Severus had his head in the oven at that point and he banged it, hard, so surprised was he by the intrusion.

He withdrew from the oven and turned to glare at the Roman matron who’d interrupted him. The woman had thick, brown hair which was swept back from her face and was possessed of a pair of sparkling eyes and a sweet face, she was smiling at him, kindly. 

Severus scowled, he hated people who smiled this early in the morning. It didn’t help that the wretched woman seemed surrounded by animals. She was flanked by at least two dogs: a tiny, fluffy white one with an air of importance and a larger pepper-and-salt coloured one with large ears. The larger dog was staring at Severus and growling low in her throat.

“ _Hush, Ceilegh._ the woman said firmly. She turned to Severus, _“Sorry about that, she doesn’t like strangers.”_

“ _Io Saturnalia, Mistress, and I am not a stranger,”_ Severus replied in a grumpy tone, 

_“this is my shop.”_

_“I gathered as much”,_ the woman smiled, _“I expect you are Harry’s beloved dominus. He never stops talking about you._ ” Her eyes softened when she spoke of his boy.

_“You’ve given him the day off for Saturnalia, I suppose?”_

_“I have, ”_ Severus commented coolly.

_“That’s very nice of you,”_ the woman said, _“if only more people took the festivals more seriously the world would be a much better place. Even slaves deserve some time off; especially ones who work as hard as Harry does, and Apisus of course.”_

_“They are both very good boys.”_ Severus was stiff and formal, not liking the fact that she seemed to know so much about them when he had no idea who she was.

_“But their job is not as easy as it looks?”_ She gestured in the direction of the oven, where the carefully tended flame had once again died. 

Severus didn’t say anything, he looked away, feeling shamed that he was so transparent to this unknown matron.

_“I don’t have to be back for a while yet,”_ the woman said, _“ I always celebrate the rites and my own boys deserve a rest too, so I’ve given them the day off, they don't need me right now. Move over and I’ll get the oven lit._ ”

Severus moved aside whilst his new assistant did indeed do as she had said. She placed her basket on the floor and the two dogs curled around it. While the matron cleared out the mess that Severus had left, he studied the animals. He realised that there was a third creature, nestled in her basket where a pair of turquoise eyes gazed up at him, unblinkingly. 

_“That’s Merlinius,”_ the woman said earnestly. _“Poor little love, he has a sore mouth from losing some teeth the other day. I brought him in this morning because Harry said he might be able to find a salve for him.”_

_“Ah!_ ” Severus said, _“I understand now._ ” Just as he’d been getting out of bed that morning Harry had still been half asleep. He had tried to get up, but Severus had forbidden him to move.

“ _Please, Domine, look after Merlinius._ ” Harry had been mumbling and sleepy eyed. Severus had dismissed Harry’s words as the aftermath of a dream. This woman was obviously known to Harry and he’d been planning to help her.

_“Harry told me about you,_ ” he said his new friend and, after a supreme effort to overcome his morning grumpiness, he attempted a smile.

From the expression on her face he hadn’t been altogether successful, but her brown eyes gazed at him kindly and her smile was far more successful. “ _How about I start putting things in the oven to bake and you have a look at Merlinius?_ ” she suggested, and Severus did as he was told, not really seeing any alternative, except going to wake Harry, which was something he was loathe to do.

The usual stream of early morning customers changed from a trickle to a flood and Severus was kept busy helping his new friend. She was well known, it seemed, and her animals seemed as familiar to everyone as she was. Both dogs received a goodly number of pats and treats and it seemed she had more pets who were absent on this occasion, two cats, that many people asked after. Her full name was Lucilla Cynthia Bellinius, (“ _Call me Cynthia._ ”) she lived in the next alley-way and ran a scribe service. She had eight scribes belonging to her (her boys) and they all had the next three days off. And as well as coming for the salve, she was also here to buy some of Harry’s delicious cinnamon buns, because all her boys loved them. For a short while Severus thought there would be no cinnamon buns that day because he had no idea how to make them, but Cynthia discovered a bowl which contained the dough, so all Severus had to do was add them to the oven to be cooked.

This was only the second time that Severus had been in the shop on his own. A few times he had helped Harry or Apisus, but even though he now had Cynthia’s help, it was still a struggle and it was highlighted to him once again just how hard Harry and Apisus worked. They had both earned a few days off.

When there was a lull, at second hour, Cynthia insisted she would be fine for a moment or two if Severus wanted to take the boys their breakfast, so he did just that. Apisus was tucked under his covers and he sprang to attention in a tangle of blankets when Severus came in, at the same time trying desperately to kneel for his master. Severus told him firmly that he was supposed to be resting and that he’d earned his morning in bed, but Apisus still seemed anxious and so Severus withdrew quickly and left him to eat in peace.

Harry was sprawled all over their bed snoring softly. Neat toes, the bare sole of a foot and a long, slim calf, stuck out from under the blanket, and messy hair covered the pillow. 

Harry was relaxed and unafraid, his body language a complete contrast to Apisus’. Severus knew he should let Harry sleep, but he wanted to see those gorgeous green eyes, and the loving smile, that his lover seemed to reserve especially for him.

He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through his boy’s tousled ebony locks, hoping to wake Harry gently. Harry wriggled his nose, sighed and then opened his eyes. “ _Hello, Domine, is it morning yet? Is it time to get up?_ ”

“ _It is morning, but you’re lying in today remember?_ ”

“ _But it’s my turn in the shop this morning, not Apisus, he should be the one resting._ ” Severus smiled and then leaned over and kissed him.

“ _I’m running the shop this morning._ ” 

Harry’s eyes widened and he looked a little worried. _“Oh, Domine, is everything all right, did you get the stove lit?_ ” then, his concern increasing,“ _Who’s there now?_ ”

Severus thought about lying and telling Harry that he’d managed everything alone, but then how would he explain his absence from the shop?

“ _A friend of yours is helping me. A very nice woman named Lucilla Cynthia Bellunius._ ”  
Harry smiled, “ _That’s kind of her,_ ” he said, “ _she’s always been so good to me. But surely she can’t stay long, as she has her boys and her animals? Is Merlinius all right?_ ”

Severus smiled at Harry; he obviously did know the woman well. _“No, she can’t stay. She allowed me a moment to visit you. Apparently she is intent on looking after her boys just as I am mine, but she insisted on helping me in my endeavour this morning. She approves of me, I think. Especially after I did help Merlinius._ ”

“ _I knew you’d be able to._ ” Harry sounded proud, which made Severus feel a strange kind of warmth in the general area of his heart. “ _She should approve, there is much about you to approve of._ He leaned over and kissed Severus, peering up at him with an open, hungry look. It would have been so easy for Severus to have kissed him back, pushed him down on the bed and tasted that delicious body. But he couldn’t leave the Roman matron on her own; not when she was doing him an enormous favour after all.

Cynthia smiled at him, knowingly, when he returned. “ _Hard to tear yourself away?_ ” she asked, an eyebrow lifted wryly.

Severus blushed. He had taken a lot of teasing over Harry in the past few months, all of it good-natured and some of it not a little envious. The consensus seemed to be that Severus was a lucky man to have a boy as delectable as Harry in his bed. But the raucous teasing from other men was one thing, knowing looks from respectable matrons was quite another.

“ _Don’t worry, Domine, sixth hour is not that far away._ ”

She stayed just a little longer, helping him tidy things away and clean down work surfaces, seemingly delighted with the potion Severus made for her cat. 

“ _He seems so much better,_ ” she said, happily. “ _I hate to see poor helpless creatures suffer. I thank you for this._ ” She held the potion up in one hand. “ _I did think at one time to make you an offer for Harry. He reads well I believe. I look after my slaves, keep them for several years and then I free them knowing they have a trade and a future. Harry seemed far too good to be wasted in scrubbing and cleaning, wearing only rags. But of late he seems so much happier and now he has Apisus to help, you are a good master I think. It is good to know you._ ”

After she had gone, bustling away, followed by her little dogs, Severus wondered how many more of Harry’s friends and champions he’d yet to meet.

When he finally closed the shop, there was a little pile of goodies for Harry and Apisus, though everyone had stated, quite correctly, that they were for Severus. Though what people thought Severus was going to do with a heap of sweetmeats and lots of hand-carved wooden or clay puppets, he had no idea. The giver wished good luck with the _sigillaria_ and whilst Severus doubted their potency to bestow any such thing he still appreciated the thought behind them. 

The loveliest of the puppets had been made by Modia’s twins. Beautifully carved, one resembled Harry and the other Apisus. These, Severus would keep. He gently stroked the tunic on the doll that resembled Harry, where it begged to be touched, if only for him to be reassured that it was not soft, folded fabric, but hard and wooden and not real at all.

He looked around the shop, feeling wistful yet content. The large room was so ordered and tidy. Harry and Apisus had worked hard to make it like this. Terracotta pots stood neatly on shelves, clean and gleaming dully, Amphora leaned against one wall and baskets were stacked according to size. It had been easy for Severus to tidy as he went along, because the boys had set up a system that was easy to follow. Harry had done it. The boy that Severus had once dismissed and hated had created a business for them both and more than that he had made them a home.

Severus loved it here; he could admit that to himself in the quiet of an empty store. He’d never been so happy, yet somehow he would have to find them a way back. Harry had a destiny and Severus had a role in helping him to meet that fate; but not today and not tonight either.

He left the shop to silence and walked back into the small room that he had converted into a sitting-room. It too gleamed, the floors were swept the cushions plumped and Flea dozed again in front of the fire. Harry and Apisus were sitting side-by-side on the couch and Apisus held a scroll from which he was reading aloud. Sometime since the morning, the room had been lavishly decorated with greenery and scattered with candles, and now it looked like a traditional Roman sitting-room at Saturnalia. Harry, Severus thought proudly, had obviously done some research. The scent of juniper hung in the air, mixing with the scented candles that bathed the room in a warm glow. In one corner there was a pile of parcels, brightly wrapped in coloured cloth. Harry had been busy.

Both boys looked up at him as he walked into the room and Flea drummed her tail against the floorboards in welcome. Apisus’ eyes held no fear, his gaze only showing his youth and an expectant gleam. Harry’s face held a different expression, although expectancy was there as well; an expression that was most avid in the love that filled his eyes. Love for Severus.

Later they would go to the feast, which was to be held in the nearby square. Luckily for their comfort, Severus had seen local tradesmen stringing awnings to cover the long tables in case it rained.

There would be music and dancing and lots of people -- exactly the sort of event that Severus hated. But he would go for Harry and Apisus, and a part of him suspected that he wouldn’t totally hate it. 

He sat down beside Harry and draped an arm over his shoulders. Harry leaned his head against Severus’ chest and Severus closed his eyes, preparing himself for the later feast. Apisus continued his lesson and Severus felt contentment. They had travelled a long way, he and Harry, a long way from Hogwarts and from their own time. But finally, for the first time in his life, Severus felt he had come home.


End file.
